My 10 favourite purchases in 2012

In undertaking my current cull, my most ruthless cull yet (I'll blog the results when I'm done), I thought to consider the 10 best things I have bought in this past year.

In no particular order:

Isabel Marant "Dickers" in anthracite. What can I say except that these ankle boots are extremely comfy. I took them with me to the US earlier this year and crossed Manhattan in them - that's how comfortable they are. I also think that this style of ankle boot looks better with skinny jeans than say the ACNE Pistol which means that they are more versatile for casual wear in my circumstances since I wear jeans every weekend.

Marni at H&M Necklace. I love this thing. I wear it all of the time. It was waiting for me on the shelf at Madison Avenue H&M the day after the launch. I think someone must have returned it. As I stood in the line for the cashier, no less than 5 women asked me where I got the Marni. Haha.

Mulberry "Alexa" (regular) in black. Since I bought this bag, I have not stopped using it. I love that it is light and that I can go hands free. At the time I also bought the "Alexa" in oak. It has not made the list as it is no longer mine! Over Christmas my Aunt did not have to work hard to convince me to swap with her... So I'm now the proud owner of the "Bayswater" in oak that she bought just last month but found too big for her after only using it twice. Thank goodness for an Aunt who buys designer handbags and is willing to swap since I now can't afford to drop a small bundle for just one bag. I think the Bayswater will suit my corporate job a little better than the "Alexa" since it just fits A4. You might see the "Bayswater" make next year's list :)

Marni at H&M zigzag top. This is so flattering on me. I wear it casually with jeans or under a blazer to work. It's really easy to take care of too. Although comprised from silk, I just throw in my front loader washing machine on the delicates cycle. All tops should be made like this.

Comptoir des Cotonniers bird print blouse. I bought this at Bloomingdales in NYC. I really like the vibe of this brand and wish that it would open up shop in Australia. Please?

Jane Lamerton breton stripe top. I actually bought two of these tops and I'm glad I did. I absolutely love the style and that fact that there is some Lycra in the fabric, which means it keeps its shape. If it was re-released again in other colours, I would buy them all. I think that is saying something.

Étoile Isabel Marant "Lexy" jacket. I bought this jacket from the comfort of my hotel room in NYC. I got an email from Net-a-Porter to say that it was back in stock and reserved for me in my cart for the next 24 hours. It only took me a couple of minutes to whip out my credit card to purchase it and I'm glad I did. It's wonderful. It's the second jacket I own from this label, and although disappointing that they are unlined for the money, the cuts really work on me.

Fleur Wood "East 63rd Blazer". I have really enjoyed wearing this... once I finally got around to snipping off the tags. I feel really neat in it. It's a great equestrian style and the elbow patches are cute. Warm too!

MM6 Maison Martin Margiela 2-piece knit. Another NYC purchase. It's ingenious really. It is a knit with a detachable vest so that when worn together, it looks like a thick woolly cardi with a light grey knit underneath. I wore it all through out Winter as well as the vest buy itself. It has a real 'grandpa' feel to it, which I love.

Cue in the City black dress. This was really cheap. $60 I recall. Although not perfect, some how it found itself on my permanent work dress rotation in Winter. A winner.

This year I have struggled in the pants and skirts department. I have bought a few, but none have really stood out. Although worn everyday, each and every bottom has its flaw *sigh*.

Also, I should point out that in the past week I have bought a couple of coloured items (!). Quarterly shopping wrap up coming up in the coming days as promised in my last post.

I will stop short at declaring that I want to turn minimalist (the fact that I still own 37 pairs of shoes makes me ineligible to join that club)... but seeing this rack filled with my favourite pieces, has again helped me remember
that I really do not want to own anything that I do not love anymore.

This whole culling process has been a long one for me. I have read many other people's culling journeys and they seem so much easier. I hope my journey ends soon. I'm getting tired.

I'm sure you could!Rest assured though that my list of mistake purchases would be much much longer. I'm actually not sure that I could even be bothered listing everything that has been a big fat failure purchase...

My culling process is also long! My biggest problem: I sell a heap of stuff on EBay & then use the proceeds to buy more clothes & shoes. This year I have culled again for yet another EBay sale but this time I will not be spending the money on clothes & I am attempting to buy only one item per month all year. Despite all my culling I still have way too much stuff - who needs 40 pairs of shoes & way too many clothes?! I've given up the idea of being a minimalist but instead am trying to wear the clothes I really love & sell/donate the reattach. I look forward to reading about your recent cull. Hang in there - we will get there!

I am also using the proceeds to buy more stuff, but I am shopping of a list now - this way I know that at least I have assessed my situation and I NEED the items that I buy.

With my most recent cull I really did get rid of a lot of old stuff that has been hanging around (will post about it soon - I promise!). My wardrobe by no means looks empty now, but my corporate wardrobe definitely needed a lift.

I'm not sure if I have particular favourites but once I thought about it, I had three things which came to the fore in my blogposts - my boyfriend jeans, my Office ankle boots (Marant wannabes) and my Carvela Krimble sandals. I have not regretted a single penny on those and I have a feeling they will be seeing me through 2013 as well. I love the Anthracite Dickers you have here - it's the fact that they're not black but just almost black. Nice buy.

I love love my dickers... is it wrong that I am considering buying the leather version for Winter?

I have an awesome pair of boyfriend jeans that are too small and I can't bear to part with them. Not sure if I can justify buying a pair given I only wear jeans on weekends and I already own a few pairs...